Sabrina Favors for WRITTEN IN THE STARS
March 18, 2015
"There is a tradition of story-telling that is passed on from grandparents to grandkids. We stay and they tell. When we stay with parents, they are too busy to tell us stories. And in Hawai'i, kids stay with
their parents, not their grandparents, so aren't told as many stories.
Many of the contributors to this anthology come from a Chuukese background, where story-telling is the responsibility of grandparents to grandchildren. Living in the United States, where the family structure is altered—by finances, by housing, by the expectations of society—the stories find other ways to be told.
When gathering their tales, Juliette Budge, a member of the grant staff and the primary gatherer, ran into an interesting conundrum when asking for their stories. Some began sharing legends and myths, tales from their culture: of Nemwes, who could walk on water and used that magic to go into forbidden lands; or of the ghost from the ridge, eager to eat a young boy left alone by his parents; or of Outingin, the youngest of five brothers who proves even the smallest can still offer aid to the family. "Stories" shape the traditions and cultural norms of the Chuukese people, influencing their attitudes towards family, education, and working together to meet the basic needs of life. "Their stories" are something else. That is "news," their personal narratives of what each has gone through to get to where they are now, and where they want to be, not only of the adults going through job skills training, but also the younger children and youth who are part of the after-school program.
This anthology was also lucky to receive three stories from students at Heald College, Honolulu campus. In the Success100 course, they examine where they have come from and where they want to go, and they learn the skills needed to get from one to the other. By the end of the course, some students realized they had made a leap forward in their own tales, moving beyond homelessness, abuse, and drug use to find that they are more than their struggles. In their stories, they discuss the experiences they've gone through, but each is focused on altering that path and forging ahead into a brighter future.
The editor for Written in the Stars, Sabrina Favors, has been lucky enough to work with these students, teaching Success at Heald College. Hearing their tales, and those of the Kalihi-Palama community, has opened her eyes to new cultures, and a new understanding of the larger community on the island of Oahu. There is also a sense of the familiar, though, of parents from an immigrant background, learning a new language and struggling to connect with their children, and the struggles to provide for a large family when the economy and society can often work against those ends. This anthology has the potential to speak to all who read it, inspiring anyone to reach beyond their past, and use those experiences to make them stronger for the future.
Many of the contributors to this anthology come from a Chuukese background, where story-telling is the responsibility of grandparents to grandchildren. Living in the United States, where the family structure is altered—by finances, by housing, by the expectations of society—the stories find other ways to be told.
When gathering their tales, Juliette Budge, a member of the grant staff and the primary gatherer, ran into an interesting conundrum when asking for their stories. Some began sharing legends and myths, tales from their culture: of Nemwes, who could walk on water and used that magic to go into forbidden lands; or of the ghost from the ridge, eager to eat a young boy left alone by his parents; or of Outingin, the youngest of five brothers who proves even the smallest can still offer aid to the family. "Stories" shape the traditions and cultural norms of the Chuukese people, influencing their attitudes towards family, education, and working together to meet the basic needs of life. "Their stories" are something else. That is "news," their personal narratives of what each has gone through to get to where they are now, and where they want to be, not only of the adults going through job skills training, but also the younger children and youth who are part of the after-school program.
This anthology was also lucky to receive three stories from students at Heald College, Honolulu campus. In the Success100 course, they examine where they have come from and where they want to go, and they learn the skills needed to get from one to the other. By the end of the course, some students realized they had made a leap forward in their own tales, moving beyond homelessness, abuse, and drug use to find that they are more than their struggles. In their stories, they discuss the experiences they've gone through, but each is focused on altering that path and forging ahead into a brighter future.
The editor for Written in the Stars, Sabrina Favors, has been lucky enough to work with these students, teaching Success at Heald College. Hearing their tales, and those of the Kalihi-Palama community, has opened her eyes to new cultures, and a new understanding of the larger community on the island of Oahu. There is also a sense of the familiar, though, of parents from an immigrant background, learning a new language and struggling to connect with their children, and the struggles to provide for a large family when the economy and society can often work against those ends. This anthology has the potential to speak to all who read it, inspiring anyone to reach beyond their past, and use those experiences to make them stronger for the future.
Posted by Daniel S.. Posted In : Author Introduction
Get to know new and established Savant authors and what they're working on these days.
